B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents

B65D81/02—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage

tween adjacent dishes, which is const rncted and arranged in a novel manner to facilitate launder- Other ob ec a a antag of the'inv nti will bec' ome'apparent' from the following detailed description of the; preferred embodiment illustrated in ,theaccompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pIiOtfiQtive 'wrapperffor dishes embodying the features of the inventionthe wrapper being shown inopen condition;

closed, but. in end t QQ XE HIPQQ fi fi QP and alterna ive;ce str eti ns alliner i hin h Spirit and scope of heinye r qnas; xpres n. the appended claim. v V I Th mproved.- pro e ive wrapp r or d e and the like comp ises; gene l y rec a g a outer cover or casing IBLWhi h may-be made of relatively heavy durable cloth or other suitable fabric, and inner separating means llof soft .flexible. material, such as if! annel ette, adapted to be wrapped around the individual dishes and to ;be. interposedhetween ,adiacent diSl' es stored n e. w apper. While; he wrappers. ma be used for the storagev or any-type, of fra e; ware, .for purposes :of illustration :1 have wn; the form especially'suitable f or storingthe; dishes of: a conventional, dinner? service. Ingeneral it has :been .found desirable to provide a separate wrapper. foreacht type ofr .dish, althou h. s m instances certainldishes commonly used; together, such .ascupsand saucers, may-he enclosed 'in'the same wrapper Thus, one wrapper is provided for dinner plates, another for bowls. another for cupsfetc. As such dishes vary in size, the dimensions of the casing lll may bevaried. accordingly so that the dishes they. are intended, to accommodate will-fit snugly therein. Likewise, the-dimensions of theseparati-ng means ll, as

" well as the form of that means, may be varied toprovide the maximum protection for the particular dishes with which they-are to be used.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 40fthe drawings the outer covering or casing- 10 isin the form of a generally flat rectangular baghaving top and bottom "walls 15 and--| 6,-si -de--walls I1, (and an end wall l8.- The end of the casing opposite thev wall I8 is left open for the insertion and. emo al of di hes-and -p v de w s i .lpsur meansiwhe hy h asine may; be

tightly closed. To impart stiffness to the casing, the meeting edges of the walls 15-! are provided with reinforcements which may be in the form of raised seems or bias strips 20.

The closure for the casing I is provided, in the present instance, by extending the top and bottom walls [5 and [6 to form flaps 2| and 22 adapted to be folded over the open end of the casing, as shown in 2: The side walls I! are also extended to form narrow flaps 23 which can be tucked in under the flaps 2i and 22 when the casing is closed. The flaps may be secured in 7 closed position in'any preferred manner, as by tapes or by snap fasteners, as shown in the exemplary container. When snap fasteners are employed, one member 24 of a fastener is applied to the outer flap 2| adjacent its free edge and the other member 25 of the fastener isapplied to the lower flap 22 adjacent its inner edge. Preferably, the bias strip 20 is extended around the entire edge of the flap 2| to give the casing a finished appearance and to impart additional stiffness to it when closed. V j

While thecasings l-H-are alike in construction, the separatingmeans may vary in form according to the particular typeof dish to be accommodated in the wrapper. For dinner or salad plates, saucers; or other'fiat dishes, separating means of the character shown in Fig.4 is provided. The separating means in this instance comprises a'plurality of'rectangular panels 26 of soft, flexible material, such as fiannelette secured together as a unit=- Preferably, I provide one more-panel than the number of dishes to be accommodated in thewrapper so that each dish is interposed between two of the panels and thus effectually protected from contact with adjacent dishes. Moreover, the panels are made wider and longer than the diameter of the dishes, leaving a marginal portion of substantial width at opposite side edges and-at the front edge which can-be tucked under or wrapped around the edge of the adjacent dish to protect the same. 1 L 7 To facilitate laundering of the wrappers, the panels 26 are secured together by sewing them directly to the casing in amanner which permits the casing to be turned inside out to expose the entire group of panels for washing and ironing. Inthe exemplary wrapper, each of the panels 26 is secured'to the casing at one edge only, preferably the inner or rear edge, which may be sewed to the end wall l8 of the casing by a single rowof stitching. 21. It will be observed by reference to Fig.4 that the panels 26 are stitched to the end wall l8 of the casing individually and at vertically spaced points. The particular spacing shown is that provided for flat shallow dishes such as plates. For deeper dishes such as bowls the spacing may be increased as required. This individual attachment of the panels to the casing facilitates the wrapping of the individual dishes and additionally prevents undesirable bunching or distortion of the casing;when filled.

It will be appreciated that the flexibility of the panels 26 permitsthe dishes to be packed in closely fitting or nested relation without danger of chipping or scratching through contact with each other. Moreover, space requirements are minimized and I have found that in the case of fiat dishes such as plates, saucers, etc., the wrappers may be conveniently arranged for accommodating as many as a dozen of such dishes.- In the case of platters, bowls and other relatively large dishes, it is preferred to construct ments 3! of the same material as said strip.

The base strip may be secured at one end to the casing l0,'or, if desired, it may be left free.

While the individual wrapping elements 3| may be of any preferred construction, they are shown herein as rectangular, bag-like receptacles or pockets open at one end. Each pocket is secured to the strip 30 adjacent its open end by a row of stitching 32 extending transversely across the strip and of sufficient length to hold the mouth of the pocket partially open, as illustrated in'Fig. 6. The pocketsvare dimensioned to receive a single cup or the like, such as the teacup 33 shown in Fig. 7, leaving a marginal edge portion of substantial width for tucking into the cup," as shown in Fig. 8.

To afford maximum protection, the cups 33- are placed in the pockets 3| with the handles in the lower inside corner so that the group-of cups may be nested togethen'each with its handle disposed withinthe adjacent cup, as shown in Fig. 5. The wrappers may be conveniently dimensioned to accommodate six cups which when nested together in the manner described above, form a firm compact unit. Each cup is separated from its neighbor by at least two thicknesses of the separating material and its outer surface is protected by the material forming the pocket and by that of the strip 30 which is wrapped around the outside of the assembled cups. 3

To accommodate cups and saucers in the same wrapper, the casing l0 is provided with separating means of both types above described. Thus panels 26 are provided for the accommodation of a plurality of saucers, as, for example, a half dozen, and a pocket type wrapping strip 30-31 is provided for the cups. These are preferably arranged so that the saucers are at the bottom of the casing and the nested-cups may rest 'thereon.

By reason of the stifiness imparted by the bias strips 20, the casing. I6 when filled with cups nested together as above described, presents a generally rectangular contour that permits stacking with other filled wrappers, as shown in Fig. 3; In stacking a group of filled wrappers, those containing the flatdishes, such as plates, are preferably placed at the bottom of the pile to provide a stable foundation for the same. As each of the filled wrappers is generally rectangular, the piles may be made of substantial height without danger of tipping, thus conserving storage space without endangering the stored dishes.

It will beapparent from the foregoing that the invention provides a protective wrapper of simple construction and attractive appearance in which dishes or other fragile ware may be conveniently and safely stored when not in use. The dishes so stored are effectively protected from contact with eachother'or with objects which might cause chipping or breakage, and

theyare kept in a clean and sanitary condition 7 ready for use at all times. Moreover, the filled wrappers may be safely stacked in piles, thus reducing space requirements to a minimum. The improved protective wrapper for dishes is simple in construction and the novel manner in which the separating means is associated with the outer cover or casing greatly facilitates laundering and enables the wrapper to be kept clean and sanitary with a minimum of effort.

I claim as my invention:

A protective wrapper for cup-shaped dishes comprising, in combination, a fabric structure having top, bottom and side walls and one end wall joined together to define a generally rectangular casing, said side walls being extended at the ends remote from said end wall to form fiaps adapted to be folded over the open end of the casing, said top and bottom walls also being extended at the ends remote from said end wall to form flaps adapted to be folded over said side wall flaps and one upon the other to form with the first mentioned flaps a dust tight closure I for the casing, dish separating means for protecting the dishes stored in said casing including a series of bag-like receptacles each open at one end to receive a single cup-shaped dish and having an extended marginal edge portion for in a compact unit and said strip to be wrapped around the outside of said unit. 7

KATHERINE FLETCHNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: